Periodic cleaning of walls, ceilings and acoustical tiles is important in maintaining the appearance of building interiors. And the expanding use of acoustical tile ceilings is likely to be attended by increasing demands for cleaning services.
Nowhere is wall and ceiling cleanliness more important than in a commercial setting where customers and clients may frequently visit the building. Cleanliness of offices, hallways, public areas and the like helps make a good impression. And walls and ceilings of establishments like restaurants and lounges often become soiled more quickly than those in office buildings and, therefore, need more frequent attention.
But there are other important reasons for keeping walls, ceilings and acoustical tiles clean. Cleanliness of surroundings helps maintain employee morale and productivity and air quality.
And such cleaning costs but a fraction of the cost of re-painting ceiling and wall surfaces And unlike painting, cleaning does not "clog pores" and thereby impair the sound-absorbing characteristic of acoustical tile.
In commercial settings, such cleaning is frequently performed by professional cleaners working under contract and with cleaning machines designed for such tasks. Less often, building maintenance employees perform such work but often use machines in doing so. In any event, transportability and convenience of use are among the key factors involved in machine selection. A well-designed, technologically advanced, efficient, easy-to-use cleaning apparatus will do a better job faster. And professional cleaners will be able to move more quickly from job to job. But while such an apparatus is highly desirable, earlier workers in the field of cleaning machine design have not entirely met the needs of the application and of the machine user.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,889 (Wisner) describes a wall and ceiling cleaning apparatus having a plurality of tanks, a pump for moving cleaning fluid to the end of a hose, and a "wet" vacuum capability. Such apparatus has a complex, two-wheeled upright frame (see FIG. 34) with locations for mounting various components. Its cleaning and rinsing solution tanks seem difficult to fill and even more difficult to empty. They are "captured" within the frame and have rigid pipes connected thereto and impairing tank removal.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,464,081 (Wisner) shows another cleaning apparatus sharing some of the disadvantages of the apparatus of the Wisner '889 patent. But it has one of its own. Its four-wheel supported, horizontal orientation suggests that it occupies a great deal of floor space in storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,239,183 (Willard) discloses a wall and ceiling cleaning machine with a single pump for both moving liquid to the wall and moving it away from the wall. It has no vacuum capability.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,794 (Korski et al.) shows a wall-cleaning machine which includes both a pump for moving liquid to the site of cleaning and suction units to remove dirty fluid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,736 (Gremminger) shows a machine with both a vacuum unit and a cleaning fluid supply unit. The patent also indicates that such units may be mounted on a wheeled carriage.
An improved cleaning apparatus which has readily-removed modules, which can be moved "dolly fashion" from site to site, which has integral dry vacuum and liquid pumping capability and which stores work implements and other items would be an important advance in the art.